


I'll do something for you this time

by Akemichan



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Japanese Shiro (Voltron), M/M, Pining Keith (Voltron), Pre-Kerberos Mission, Pre-Slash, Shiro (Voltron) Has a Loving Family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-01
Updated: 2020-03-01
Packaged: 2021-02-19 06:27:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22973404
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akemichan/pseuds/Akemichan
Summary: Next year Shiro’s birthday will come with a long series of astral conjunctures:1)it’ll be a leap year, so Shiro’s birthday will be Shiro’s birthday for real2)it’ll be the birthday after Shiro’s break-up with Adam3)it’ll be the birthday before Shiro’s departure for Kerberos4)it’ll be a Saturday, so a free day for himKeith has every intention to put up one more reason for this day to be special: spending the day with Shiro and giving him the best present ever.
Relationships: Keith/Shiro (Voltron)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 21
Collections: Shiro Birthday Exchange 2020





	I'll do something for you this time

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lunarium](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lunarium/gifts).



> I wrote this for Shiro's birthday Exchange for Lunarium, that asked me about Keith doing something for making this day special for Shiro.  
> And well, I hope this idea is what you were looking for!

The first hurdle stands behind the office’s closed door.

Despite Iverson having express appreciation to Keith’s talent as a pilot, he isn’t exactly a fan of Keith. On more occasions, Iverson made clear that he doesn’t have faith in Keith’s attitude and he doesn’t trust Keith changes from his old habit.

So Keith isn’t optimistic that Iverson will be open-minded enough to listen.

For Shiro, Keith repeats in his mind as he swallows and knocks at the door.

“Come in,” Iverson says, from the inside.

Keith enters the room, closes the door behind him and stands there, at attention.

“Commander Iverson.”

“Cadet Kogane.” Iverson acknowledges him with a nod with his head.

“Permission to speak, Sir.”

Iverson gestures at the chair in front of his desk. Keith sits down and places the folder he has on the desk.

“What do you need, cadet?”

“I read the Garrison’s regulation about work,” Keith says. “From their sixteen birthday, cadets can ask authorization to have an outside occupation in their free time, with the authorization of both the Garrison _and_ their legal tutor.”

Which, in Keith’s situation, coincide. The home Keith was before being accepted as a cadet left their right to the Garrison, who is at the moment Keith’s responsible until he comes of age.

“You’d like to find a job outside the Garrison?”

“Yes, sir,” Keith answers.

“Why?” Iverson presses. “Most of the cadets that ask for it are due to not continue their military career, and this is something it shouldn’t happen to you.”

“I want some founds of my own,” Keith explains. “I won’t inherit my father’s properties until next year, and until now all I own are either Garrison’s or the home’s bequests.”

Garrison’s scholarship provides Keith of everything he needs during his school years – the uniform, the dorm, the books – but any extra has to be paid by Keith’s himself, and the home’s paychecks are enough just to buy a couple of new clothes every year.

“This is for Officer Shirogane, am I right?”

Keith startles. He doesn’t realize he’s so transparent. Slowly, he nods.

“I appreciate Shirogane’s positive influence on you,” Iverson comments after looking careful at Keith. “But you may have a bright future ahead of you, so don’t lose focus on it.” He takes the paper. “If you promise this won’t hurt your grades, for me it’s fine.”

“It won’t, sir, I swear.”

Keith leaves the office with Iverson’s signature on the authorization form.

Next year Shiro’s birthday will come with a long series of astral conjunctures:

1)it’ll be a leap year, so Shiro’s birthday will be Shiro’s birthday for real

2)it’ll be the birthday after Shiro’s break-up with Adam

3)it’ll be the birthday before Shiro’s departure for Kerberos

4)it’ll be a Saturday, so a free day for him

Keith has every intention to put up a fifth reason for this day to be special: spending the day with Shiro and giving him the best present ever.

Giving a present at all will be nice enough since in the past years Keith gave him just a present card drawn by him and a small call before Shiro spent the day with Adam.

It isn’t enough for Keith: he wants that day to be something Shiro can remember with happiness and fondness. He wants to see Shiro's big, amazing smile again.

He got his idea, he has an estimate of the money needed and the time to reach that amount. He still can’t be sure it’ll work entirely but, first, he needs the money.

Working isn’t hard.

At the home, children are taught to take care of themselves, not different from the Garrison’s rules about clothes and rooms. So Keith isn’t stranger to hard work.

And luckily for him, he found a job without public relationships.

Cooking for a fast food restaurant is repetitive, and boring, and Keith doesn’t get the time to think because the orders arrive one after another, but it pays enough, especially since Keith accepts to work on weekends and evenings.

The hardest part is to stay calm and focused on the jokes and the mocking of his colleagues.

It seems common knowledge that only future-drop-outs cadets would accept a simple job like making sandwiches in fast food, so they don’t lose any occasion to remark it. It gets worse when they discover Keith’s record with the flight simulator: taunts about him being ‘too slow’ at cooking hamburgers are common courtesy. When the boss isn’t around, they enjoy throwing things at him to see how fast his reflexs are.

But it’s okay.

It’s nothing Keith hasn’t bear before, and it’s better than the time he’s trapped with a family the home chose for him he can’t escape from. He needs that job.

And it’s easier to do so when Keith knows there is someone on his side this time.

The worst part of his secondary job is not having free time anymore, which means, for Keith, not time to spend with Shiro.

There is some irony in the fact that Keith’s attempt to do something for Shiro steals time he can spend with Shiro.

At first, it wasn’t so bad, because Shiro was busy with test and simulation for preparing himself for the Kerberos’ mission. He wasn’t around as much as before. But Commander Holt’s preparations have an interruption period around December, which Keith dreads.

He knows he won’t be able to hide Shiro about the secondary job.

And Shiro intercepts him in the Garrison cafeteria the day after his return to the base with Commander Holt. He’s enthusiastic about all the training and Keith lets him blabbering about it for a while, enjoying the familiarity of seeing him eating a gigantic mac and cheese portion.

Shiro wipes out the cheese from his mouth and smiles.

“Racing this weekend?”

“I can’t.” Keith keeps his breath.

Shiro’s smile fell. “Oh, okay. Next week then?”

“I can’t,” Keith repeats, with a sigh. “I’m… working at fast food on the Sixth on weekends.”

A mix of emotion crosses Shiro’s face, staring with a frown to a worried pout. “Keith. Secondary jobs are for people that prefer not continuing the career as Garrison officers.”

“I know.”

“Did something happen? Because I can-”

“It’s not that,” Keith interrupts him, angry for having worried Shiro. “I need some money, that’s it. My clothes are getting smaller for me. I’m growing up. And I need a new pair of shoes too.”

Talking too much should be enough to not betray himself.

“Oh,” Shiro mutters. “I can buy something for you. I have enough found and, after all, I’m about to leave for a thirteen months-long holiday paid by the Garrison.” He chuckles. “You don’t have to work.”

Keith shakes his head. “I don’t want your money, Shiro.”

“You can give them back later, really, it isn’t a problem.”

“I can handle it,” Keith assures him. “It’s just for a couple of months.”

Shiro looks at him and presses his lips together. “You’ll have the mid-semester exams in January. You sure you’ll be okay?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.” Shiro lets himself smiling. “But I’m still getting you a couple of new pants for Christmas.”

“You don’t even celebrate Christmas,” Keith points out. “And I don’t either.”

“Well, fine, then. But if you still receive something, don’t blame me but Santa. That man can’t keep things for himself.”

Keith laughs.

He missed Shiro so much.

The more it gets near to the winter holidays, the more Keith works. His colleagues take some leaves, and he covers most of their turns to earns more.

At Garrison, the lessons have ended, but Keith occupies the new free time for studying for the exams and prepares all the essays the teachers pretend from the students.

His plan for Shiro’s birthday was in motion, but the airplane tickets cost more than Keith anticipates, so he couldn’t resign to his job the week before the beginning of the exams as he wanted.

He can’t stop now that he’s so near to reach his objective, so he spends his days rotating between studying and working. For the first time since he joined the Garrison, he takes the energetic beverage most students used to increase their performances during the exams.

Keith never needed them, but now they’re essential to remain awake after his evening shift at work, so he can study at night, sleep enough hours to be ready for the morning shift.

Focusing has became harder and harder.

It seems easier the first day of tests, but now Keith realizes he finds difficult even keeping the pen in his hand. He rubs his eyes every five seconds to kick away the sleepiness and bits his lips to wake him up.

He isn’t working the three weeks of exams, but he’s still studying, and the tiredness of the previous three months is coming for him altogether.

Just one more week. One more week, Keith keeps repeating himself. He isn’t certain to nail all the tests, but at least he hasn’t fell with his head on the desk, fully asleep.

The last three days are the flying simulator test and the physical tests, something Keith’s glad for.

The hardness of the controls under his hands managed to keep him awake, anchored to the reality. Piloting is something that Keith has always felt natural, like breathing. He doesn’t need much focus.

Or so he thinks.

The screams of Brad, the engineer that is his comrades for the second test in the simulator, pierce his head. Keith blinks and looks at the screen in front of him: he spaced out, and now the ship he’s piloting races dangerously towards the mountains.

“We’re gonna crash!” Brad yells again, with more fear that should have since it’s just a simulation.

Keith grits his teeth and tightens his grip on the controls: he turns the ship on the right side and then push it down to use the movement to spring it back in the air. Behind him, Brad sighs audibled.

“What the hell it’s wrong with you?” he complains, but Keith doesn’t answer. He just completes the simulation with his teeth firmly into his bottom lips, until the blood comes off.

Professor Mongomery is waiting for them outside the simulator, but it’s Commander Iverson that speaks. “What happened, Cadet Kogane?”

“I lost control of the ship for a second.” It was more than a second, Keith knows, and in a real-life situation, it could have cost the entire crew their lives.

“Why it happened, Cadet?”

“I…” Keith hates it. He hates the look the other cadets are giving him like they expected him to fail, and now they’re giving themselves the high five. Because now there isn’t any reason for Keith to be considered the best anymore.

“Sir. May I suggest a checkup? Cadet Kogane seems a little worn out.”

Shiro. It’s Shiro. Keith can’t even focus his face anymore.

“Uhm.” Iverson hums to himself. “Yes, I think it’s the best action for now. Lieutenant Shirogane, please lend Cadet Kogane to the infirmary. Professor Montgomery, please continue with your exams.”

“I can walk…” Keith protests weakly and Shiro’s arms surround his chest.

“Don’t worry. I got you.”

Keith wakes up in the infirmary’s bed, with an IV in his arm. Shiro’s there too, and he smiles as soon as he notices Keith’s gaze on him.

It’s enough to bring Keith back to reality. “The tests...!” He tries to stand up, gripping Shiro’s arm to lift himself. Shiro, gently but firmly, places his hand on Keith’s shoulders and push him back on the mattress.

“Don’t worry,” he says. “Doc said you have severe denutrition caused by excessive use of energetic beverage. I spoke with Iverson, they’ll permit you to take the tests next week. You passed all the writing tests, so they consider unwarranted have you fail on your best strength. You can rest for now.”

Keith’s sure it was Shiro’s influence more than Keith’s results that convinced the professor, but he still takes a relief breath.

“You force yourself enough,” Shiro murmurs, revealing his worries behind his smile. His hand is caressing Keith’s hair. “Sure now you’ll have enough money for new clothes.”

“And I don’t need the shoes anymore,” Keith adds, remembering the red wrapped present he found out in his dorm the Christmas morning. “But no. I still need to work.”

Tickets bought. Apartment rents. Translator paid. But he needs some money in case something goes wrong.

“Keith-”

“Just two more weeks, Shiro, I promise.” He turns his head to look at him. “And I won’t accept double shifts anymore. I will rest, I’ll take my exams and then work for just two more weeks.”

“Fine,” Shiro nods at last. “But tell me if you need any help, okay?”

“There is something,” Keith says. “The 29th. Can we spend the day together?”

Shiro’s eyes widen a little. Even if they don’t express it with words, they both know what that day is.

“Of course,” he smiles softly. “It’ll be nice.”

Shiro does remember the promise because the 29th morning he shows himself at Keith’s door in the dorm, his casual clothes with the leather jacket on and the smart smirk who’s about to do something the Garrison won’t approve.

Keith missed it.

He’s ready.

He left the work one week before, so he has enough time to rest despite the beginning of the lesson for the second semester, and he passed all the exams – for the first time he doesn’t get the higher score of the flying tests, but adding them to the writing results was enough to keep his scholarship.

He left Shiro to decide how to spent the day, and Shiro’s decision for his birthday was to racing with the hoverbikes all days in the desert – he even prepared the lunch, a couple of sandwiches that don’t even taste bad for Shiro’s standard. Keith doesn’t care, as long as he can spend time with Shiro.

“Thank you for today,” Shiro says when they’re returning towards the Garrison base in the late afternoon.

“I didn’t do anything.”

“You stay with me. That’s enough.”

Keith’s throat is dry as he murmurs, “before going back, there’s a place I need to go. Can you come with me?”

“Sure,” Shiro answers, with a curious look.

They reach the city: the apartment Keith has rent is on the Fifth, in the quietest area of the city. It’s an apartment on the last floor of a ten-store palace, with two rooms, a terrace and a big dining room, nice enough for spending a couple of days.

Shiro hasn’t ask anything, just following Keith around quietly, but once they reached the door of the apartment, he smirks.

“You organized me a surprise party, don’t you?” He winks, as Keith turns his eyes away. “Don’t worry, I’ll try to be surprised.” And he rings at the door.

The Japanese woman that opens the door is short and thin, with a long pink dress and a white apron that grip his thin waist even more. His face lights up as she sees Shiro, and the wrinkles around her eyes almost disappear.

“Takashi,” she says, and even her voice is thin. She adds something in Japanese Keith doesn’t understand.

Shiro’s mouth has fell opened. She ignores it and reserves him a brief, light hug before turning his head inside and speaks again in Japanese. Keith pushes Shiro inside and closes the door behind him.

The room is filled with a strong smell and something is boiled on the stove.

A Japanese man stands up from the couch. Keith saw in the past a photo of him, but Shiro’s grandfather’s presence is overwhelming. He’s taller and broader than Shiro, something Keith considers impossible, but with his same squared jaws and the same sweet grey eyes. He’s obviously older, and the maturity and the experience make him imponent.

“Jiji…” Shiro manages to whisper before his grandfather grabs him into a tight hug, one that makes Keith wonders if he’s going to break some of Shiro’s bones.

Then his attention moves to Keith. “Nice to meet you, Kiito-kun,” he says, voice deep, in a not steady English. But he shakes Keith’s hand with force, and Keith bows his head and tries to remember the few Japanese Shiro taught him.

“Hajimemashte, Shirogane-san.”

He murmurs something, the frowns and turns to Shiro with a severe look.

Shiro blinks a little. “He said you can call them Hitoshi-san and Sumire-san,” he says to Keith, and then adds something in Japanese with an annoyance that Keith sees very rarely in it. But to his questions, it’s his grandmother to answer, despite being focused on her stove. Keith doesn’t understand a word, except his name.

So they’re talking about it.

“You did this?” Shiro’s eyes are back on Keith, and he shrugs.

For a second, he fears he made a mistake. But he remembers the way Shiro talked about his grandparents, about the fact that they were the ones to encourage him to pursue his dream of becoming a pilot, and how he missed them but since they’re old he doesn’t dare to ask them to fly all way to America…

“How?” Shiro demands. “They don’t even speak English!”

Keith shrugs again. “I paid a translator to send them a letter, and two plane tickets. They accepted, so I paid for the apartment and for another translator to stay with them until you arrive…”

“You did this…” Shiro murmurs, with a soft voice. And then pouts. “I can’t believe it! They’ve always said they’re scared to fly!” And he repeated it to Hitoshi, who just laughs.

Sumire gives Shiro a funny look and says something that makes Shiro pouts more and crosses his arm. Hitoshi pats him in the back before sitting down at the already set table.

“They’re assholes,” Shiro comments, but he’s smiling. “Come on, my grandma’s ramen is the best thing around.”

“Should I trust you?” Keith grins. “You consider the best thing around the mac and cheese at the Garrison’s canteen, and the hamburger at Mc’s.”

“Fair,” Shiro admits. “But I won’t lie on my grandma’s ramen.”

And it’s one of the best things Keith has ever had in his life, with strong flavored miso soup and the soft meat. Shiro had already shown him how to use sticks, so Keith can focus less on the dinner and more on the way Shiro behaves around his grandparents, even if they’re talking in a language he doesn’t understand.

Shiro’s expression and way of talking are different from the Garrison Lietenaunt Keith knows, and even from the smart bad boy biker that races in the desert. He’s at ease, with his defense low, and his almost childish in the way he pouts and waves his arms around. Hitoshi laughs a lot and pats Shiro’s back a lot, choking him in the soup most of the time. Sumire scolds them and smiles at the same time.

Once he finishes the ramen, Keith excuses himself and let the three of them alone in the dining room. He sits down in the terrace outside, with his backpack at his next. From the city, even if the sky is clear, seeing the star is impossible. He closes his eyes, letting himself culled by the Japanese words that come from the inside.

He opens them again when he heard a rumor next to him: Shiro moves another chair and sits down next to him.

“Do you need help with the dishes?” Keith asks.

“Nah.” Shiro shakes his head. “My granma cares about roles, she would be offended if we help her.”

His face his relaxed, he looks younger than usual. Keith hasn’t seen him so much happy since he was chosen for Kerberos: even if it’s his dream, a lot of stress came with it.

“I haven’t realized how much I missed them,” Shiro comments, the smile still in his face, as he looks at the sky. “How do you get this idea?”

Keith shrugs. “You talked a lot about them. I’ve started to know you well enough to understand that you wouldn’t have selfish enough to ask them to take the plane and come here, so I did it for you.”

Shiro tilts his head to him, and scanned Keith: he has the new shoes, but he’s still dressed in the old red jacket and the jeans with the holes below the knees.

“Have you bought some clothes for you?”

“It remains something, I think I’ll manage to get a couple of new shirts.” Keith lifts his hand to stop Shiro. “I know what you want to say. That I shouldn’t have done it, that I almost failed the exams because of it, that you’re not worth it.”

“Well,” Shiro starts, “it is true. Don’t let me wrong, I appreciated it, but-”

“No, Shiro. You deserve it. You deserve everything. I wasn’t anyone before you, and I just want to give you something special. I want to see you happy for yourself for once.”

The hug happens so suddenly that Keith takes few seconds to realizes that Shiro’s strong arms are pressing on his back and his face is squeezed on Shiro’s broad chest. Keith snuggles in the embracing and slowly moves his arm around Shiro’s torso.

“Thank you, Keith,” Shiro says, and his voice breaks a little. “Nobody else ever done something like this for me.”

Keith swallows. “I’m pretty sure it’s not true.”

“It is. Everyone else… is just there for what they think I am. You don’t. That’s important to me. I’m so happy to be your best friend.”

Best friend. Right.

“I’ll always be there for you, Shiro.”

When Shiro, with an embarrassed smile, Keith knows everything was worthy.

Shiro sighs. “Now I need to find a way to surpass this for _your_ birthday.”

Keith rolls his eyes. “You’ll be on Kerberos for my birthday.”

“Damn,” Shiro complains. “You don’t like easy things, don’t you?”

“Nope,” Keith replies. “And by the way, I have another thing for you.”

“Another?” Shiro’s tone is a mixture of annoyance and surprise.

“Happy birthday, old-timer,” Keith comments while he passes him a wrapped up in red ribbons.

Shiro smirks and unwraps the present: it’s the special illustrated edition of the Simmariol. Shiro already had The Lord of the Rings of the same collection and expressed the desire of having all Tolkiens’ books.

“Damn,” Shiro swears again, as he passes his hand through the pages, with a big smile on his face and bright eyes.

And looking at him like that, Keith thinks back at Iverson’s suggestion about what his objective should be. But Keith already knows it.

He wants to reach the stars, of course. That was a dream of him. But his first mission is and will always be making Shiro happy.

As long as his rewards are Shiro’s smiles, Keith can be happy.


End file.
